A mock jury trial of William Bury will take place on February 3, 2018 at Dundee Sheriff Court in Dundee, Scotland. Mooting societies from the University of Dundee and the University of Aberdeen will debate whether Bury murdered his wife Ellen in Dundee in 1889, and a Scottish Supreme Court justice will oversee the trial. Bury’s original trial featured a close contest over the medical evidence in the case, and an outstanding feature of the mock trial will be the inclusion of rival forensic experts who will reinterpret that evidence from a contemporary perspective. The mock trial will be filmed for an upcoming documentary, and social media updates on the progress of the trial are expected throughout the day on February 3, with the trial expected to conclude by 5 p.m.
This is wonderful news for those of us in the Ripper community who have accepted that Bury committed the main Whitechapel murders. While there’s no doubt that Bury murdered his wife Ellen, he having confessed to her murder in a letter he wrote just a few days prior to his execution, it’s important to raise awareness of Bury within the legal and forensic science communities. Who knows, perhaps one day there will be a mock trial of Bury for the Ripper murders themselves. That would certainly be a fascinating sequel.